Milano Cortina viewership surge tells brands the Olympics still matter

For anyone who had begun to write off the Winter Olympics as a niche platform with declining commercial relevance (I confess I did so myself in private conversations), the Milano Cortina 2026 Games delivered a data-driven corrective. Across virtually every major market, viewership climbed to levels not seen in over a decade. European time zones, maturing streaming infrastructure and a compelling roster of athletes combined to produce a commercial event that sporting goods brands cannot afford to ignore heading into Los Angeles 2028.

North America: what happens when the time zone works in your favor

The Games’ single most dramatic turnaround came in the United States. NBCUniversal, which holds the US broadcast rights, reported an average audience of 23.5 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, USA Network and CNBC – a 96 percent increase over the Beijing 2022 Winter Games and the most-watched Winter Games since 2014, according to the network.

The gain stems largely from a European time zone far more compatible with American viewing habits than Beijing’s, combined with streaming adoption that has matured sharply since 2022: NBCUniversal recorded 11.2 billion minutes streamed, exceeding the combined total of all previous Winter Games.

All 15 competition days drew more than 20 million viewers across platforms, according to NBC. The men’s ice hockey gold medal game between the US and Canada attracted what NBC called one of the largest morning sports audiences in recent memory, though independently verified final figures were not yet available at time of publication.

Canada’s performance was equally striking. CBC/Radio-Canada reported that the Games reached around four-fifths of the Canadian population via broadcaster data, with streaming time on CBC Gem growing several-fold compared with Beijing. The men’s hockey overtime goal on February 22 alone attracted 8.7 million viewers – a figure that illustrates how a single sporting moment can still concentrate national attention in a fragmented media environment.

Italy, France and Germany set the pace in Europe

As host nation, Italy unsurprisingly led the European numbers. RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana), Italy’s public broadcaster, reported its most-watched Winter Games ever, with total viewing exceeding the previous three Winter Games in Italy combined, according to IOC data. Two out of three Italians watched coverage at some point, and moments like Sofia Goggia’s alpine skiing bronze medal peaked at 4.9 million viewers – compared to just 712,000 during Beijing 2022, when live coverage required middle-of-the-night viewing.

France reached more than 50 million viewers, the highest total since the Torino 2006 Games – roughly 10 million more than at a comparable stage in Beijing, according to France Télévisions. In Germany, ARD/ZDF coverage reached nearly 40 million people, with live broadcasts averaging 3.3 million viewers and peak events such as luge and biathlon achieving audience shares approaching 45 percent of the national viewership at given moments. I was among them: sitting in Berlin, I kept my second screen permanently tuned to the Games, and discovered that the ambient sound of curling matches helps maintain concentration—not unlike certain white noise or neuronal soundscapes.

In the UK, the BBC carried the primary domestic coverage and reached 26.3 million television viewers, with Discovery+ carrying complementary coverage as part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s European rights package. The men’s curling gold medal match between Great Britain and Canada peaked at 5.5 million viewers on the BBC.

Beyond the West: Japan, Brazil and the streaming tier

Outside Europe and North America, the reach was equally notable. Japanese broadcasters reached the vast majority of the national TV audience. In Norway and Sweden, public broadcasters NRK (Norsk rikskringkasting) and SVT (Sveriges Television) reported double-digit viewership increases relative to Beijing, aided in Norway’s case by a return to free-to-air broadcasting. In Brazil, broadcasters called Milano Cortina the country’s most-watched Winter Games ever.

Digital engagement data confirmed the shift from broadcast-centric consumption. Warner Bros. Discovery said hours viewed on its platforms—including HBO Max and Discovery+ —grew by triple-digit percentages versus Beijing, delivering its biggest Winter Olympics on streaming. The IOC’s own digital platforms nearly doubled their user base, and Olympic social channels roughly tripled engagements compared with Beijing, according to IOC figures.

The athletes who moved audiences, and what they mean for brands

Viewership data alone understates the commercial value of these Games. Equally significant for sporting goods brands and their sponsorship teams is which athletes generated earned media, social conversation and the emotional stakes that made the numbers move.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Norway’s cross-country skier, left Milano Cortina as arguably the most dominant single-Games performer in Winter Olympic history, having won six gold medals. His sprint in the 50km mass start generated global coverage and gave brands an almost unanswerable image of peak human performance—the kind of association companies depend on to validate their performance ranges. For any brand seeking an endurance or performance platform heading into 2028, Klæbo is now a once-in-a-decade asset in winter sport.

 

 

 

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MikaelaShiffrin of the US remained central to NBCUniversal’s alpine skiing coverage. Her presence across the Games reportedly generated an estimated $7 million in off-snow commercial income—roughly double her 2022 figure—with existing partners including Adidas and Land Rover.  

 

 

 

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Eileen Gu, the Chinese-American freestyle skier competing for China, remained the highest-paid female Winter Olympian at an estimated $23 million annually. Luxury brand partners including Louis Vuitton, Porsche, IWC and Red Bull continued to benefit from her positioning as both elite athlete and Stanford student.

 

 

 

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Among the breakout stories,Alysa Liu (US, figure skating) generated some of the Games’ most viral non-sport content. Her performances and her emotionally resonant interaction with Japan’s Ami Nakai produced widely shared clips that extended her reach well beyond figure skating audiences. For brands targeting Generation Z, Liu’s combination of sporting credibility and authentic personality makes her a significant crossover prospect. Today, Samsung. Tomorrow—who knows?

 

 

 

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Swiss alpine skier Franjo von Allmen won multiple gold medals in speed events within days, making him an immediate priority for European luxury and outdoor brands. Young, dominant and the architect of historically notable results, he offers a near-ideal template for a long-term brand ambassador in the European market.

 

 

 

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The “Golden Unzip” dispute: what the Leerdam-Nike moment tells brands

Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands generated a different kind of commercial conversation. Her gold in speed skating drew close to 4 million viewers in the Netherlands alone – one of the highest domestic TV ratings in years – while her 6.5 million Instagram followers position her as one of the most socially powerful Winter Olympians. She represents the clearest example of an athlete whose commercial value is no longer primarily determined by her sport’s traditional audience.

No athlete-brand interaction from the Milano Cortina Games attracted more industry scrutiny than what became known as the “Golden Unzip.” Immediately after winning the 1,000m and setting an Olympic record, Leerdam unzipped her official Dutch team racing suit – sponsored by Fila – to regulate her body temperature, revealing a white Nike sports bra with a visible swoosh.

 

 

 

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Marketing analysts estimated that the global exposure from that single viral moment was worth roughly $1 million in brand value for Nike, though the figure depends on the valuation methodology applied. The question of whether it constituted deliberate marketing mattered both commercially and legally: Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter—however relaxed, as we illustrated in our past coverage of Milano Cortina—still restricts athletes from visibly promoting personal sponsors who are not official IOC partners during competition, and Nike holds no top-tier IOC partnership.

After a formal review, the IOC cleared Leerdam of any violation, ruling that unzipping a tight high-performance skinsuit to cool down is standard physiological practice for speed skaters. The outcome was fair - and commercially ideal for both Leerdam and Nike. But the episode is not without complications for future brand partners.

Leerdam also faced some domestic criticism in the Netherlands over perceived glamour and sustainability concerns—including questions about private aviation during an event that had positioned itself on environmental credentials. This generated a modest but notable secondary narrative alongside her medal coverage. Future partners operating in markets where brand-athlete alignment on sustainability is scrutinised should factor that context into their assessment.

 What the numbers mean for brand investment

The aggregate data from Milano Cortina makes a straightforward commercial argument: a favourable time zone can dramatically reshape broadcast audiences almost overnight. The 96 percent US viewership gain was not primarily a product of better programming – it was largely arithmetic, reflecting that the nine-hour difference with Beijing was replaced by a far more manageable gap with Milan and the Italian Alps, alongside streaming audiences that had grown dramatically in the last four years.

But you also need to choose carefully who to partner with and support: values, personality, and lifestyle decisions matter—often more than sporting performance itself.